A GUIDE TO TRAVEL PR

THE ART OF MANAGING EXPECTATIONS

BY IAN WEIGHTMAN

Destination PR specialist Ian Weightman has launched A Guide To Travel PR, aimed at helping small-to-medium sized tourism business learn how to increase their own profile and presence in the UK tourism industry.

a self help guide for B&B owners, privately owned hotels, small attractions, service providers, guides and concierges, and anyone who feels they have a story to tell to their local, and the travel, media…but may be unsure about the best way to go about it.

ABOUT THE BOOK

The book has been designed to offer some of the inspiration, motivation and ‘insider tips’ to help get those businesses started, and to then plot their own step-by-step path through the PR minefield.

It is illustrated by cartoons drawn by Tony Husband, whose work has appeared in many newspapers, magazines, books and websites, and in several TV and theatrical productions – including Private Eye, The Times, Punch, Playboy, The Sunday Express, The Spectator and The Sun. He has won more than 15 major awards, including the Pont Award for depicting the British way of life.

The creator and managing director of Ian Weightman Media Services – a company which specialises in destination PR, and which has represented some of the best-known areas and attractions in the UK – Ian Weightman has worked in the domestic tourism industry for almost 30 years.

A former journalist himself, he understands the pressures of deadlines, and the need for a genuine story. He also prefers to “tell it like it is”, and – when the need arises – to manage expectations.

He comments: “You could say this book is a unique and exciting guide to PR for any small tourism business. You could say that. Or, you could manage expectations – and say that this book is a useful first step for anyone who would like to venture down the PR track in order to promote their own tourism business.

“It’s not ‘unique’. And it’s not ‘exciting’. But it’s new, and it could be just what a small business owner in the tourism industry has been looking for.

“PR is all about managing expectations, telling it like it is, and never over-stating what you’re offering. If anyone with a tourism business is thinking about including PR in their marketing mix, it would be worth their while reading this book. It’s new, and pretty good. And Tony’s cartoons are brilliant.”